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Imperial Courier
The Imperial Courier is a ship manufactured by Gutamaya for the Empire. Described as the quintessential Imperial ship that epitomizes elegance of form while packing a good punch, the Imperial Courier is one of the smallest ships available, barely larger than the Sidewinder MkI and with a lighter mass than all ships except the Sidewinder and Hauler. Although able to be adapted to several roles, the ship's agility and three medium hardpoints make it especially well-suited for combat. Officially, the Imperial Courier is used to provide transport for Imperial officials who do not warrant the privilege of an Imperial Cutter or a Majestic Class Interdictor. However, its flexibility means that it fills many roles for the Imperial Navy and prominent citizens of the Empire. Overview The Imperial Courier is well armed and very well shielded for its small size, making it a great and evasive fighter in combat. In terms of agility it ranks somewhere close to the Viper MkIII. While it has a good pitch rotation speed, its slightly weaker vertical-lateral thrusters cause the Courier to drift more than the Viper. Even though the Courier has the same top boost speed as Viper, due to its low hull mass relative to modules, it is slightly slower and can't boost as often as the Viper, dropping down from the top speed faster. The Imperial Courier's shields are much better than the Viper MkIII's and Cobra MkIII's, being almost on par with those on a Vulture. Unlike the Vulture, the Imperial Courier does not have such severe power management issues, and is thus better able to equip shield boosters and Shield Cell Banks. The weapon hardpoints are located in the following places: 1 medium hardpoint at the front of each engine nacelle, and 1 medium hardpoint underneath the nose. Utility mounts are located 1 on top of each nacelle and 2 more in-line top centre of the hull behind the cockpit canopy. While the Imperial Courier can achieve an excellent jump range between 30-50 ly with Engineering, it is not suited for long-term exploration. The Courier's diminutive size and light weight works against it in this situation: it can only fit a Class 3 Frame Shift Drive. Thus, to keep the ship's mass low and achieve that 50 ly jump range requires undersizing the core internals and eschewing utilities along with most modules suggested for exploration, including a Planetary Vehicle Hangar. While this does not mean the Courier should never be used for exploration, there are better ships to choose from for the role, such as the Diamondback Explorer. Purchase Locations Outfitting All ships are highly customisable through the Outfitting menu of Station Services. Listed below is the default load-out for the Imperial Courier. *''(L) = Loaned Module'' *''x# = Capacity'' *''(H) = Requires Elite Dangerous: Horizons, reserved solely for Planetary Approach Suite'' Videos File:I_am_Courier_-_Elite_Dangerous_Imperial_Courier File:Gutamaya_Imperial_Courier_BMW_ad_Mashup File:Ship_Introducing_Imperial_Courier_-_Elite_Dangerous_Short_cinematic_video File:A_Pirates_Life_Aint_Easy File:Elite_Dangerous_A_Moment_of_Zen File:The Imperial Courier Elite Dangerous Gallery File:Imperial_courier_peek.jpeg|Sneak peek concept art of cockpit from Newsletter #65 File:Imperial_Courier_sketches.jpg|Possible Empire Courier Sketches PeekOfTheWeek_ImperialCourier.jpg|Sneak peek from Newsletter #67 Imperial courier cockpit 01.jpg|Sneak peek cockpit view from Newsletter #71 Imperial courier cockpit 02.jpg|Sneak peek cockpit view from Newsletter #71 Imperial Courier w11.jpg|Ship model concept art Imperial_Courier_01.jpg imp-courier-hardpoints.png|Imperial Courier deployed hardpoints. imp-courier-topview.png imp-courier-frontview.png File:Underside_of_Imperial_Courier.jpg File:Imperial-Courier_zpschq7esel.jpg E-D - Imperial Courier - Fuel Scooping 01.jpg|Fuel Scooping showing the Heat Vents PrettyScene1080.png|Bounty Hunting Imperial Courier EliteDangerous64 2016-04-29 17-56-38.png bp-imperial-courier.png|Gutamaya Imperial Courier Blueprint Imperial-Courier-Cockpit.png|Imperial Courier cockpit Courier-Role.jpg|Imperial Courier landed Elite-Dangerous-Imperial-Courier-ship-docked.png|Imperial Courier ship docked ru:Imperial Courier Category:Gutamaya Category:Multipurpose Ships